The letter in the July 28 Saanich News concerning the cartoon comparing President Trump and the DPRK Leader Kim Jong-un is very interesting. I have read it over and over trying to determine why someone who has the good fortune to live in our country can have such views.
At times I think that the letter writer has written such dribble just to see if anyone will notice so I have watched the editions that have followed and found that no one has, at least not enough to write about it. Much of the letter makes reference to events of the past, some of which may have some truth but his paragraph that prompts him to take “unknown risks” is very disturbing.
The “loyal and industrious comrades” he refers to are only a part of the population of North Korea. The population as it is today has been exposed to generations of brainwashing by the government of Kim Jon-un and his father Kim Jong-un.
Before the advent of the internet, the people of North Korea only knew what they were told. The way to survive was to toe the line. Those who did not agree received free housing and a little food in labour camps. The only way out of one of these camps was escape or death. Very few have escaped.
The camps were needed to work all the mines that produce the minerals and revenue that is generated by the forced (slave) labour. The amount of money gained from the export of these minerals, in the billions annually, is used mainly to build a utopia-type capital city and a mighty military. If the letter writer thinks this is a good thing and Kim Jong-un is doing a good job in running his country he might want to volunteer as a miner.
There is only one way for all the people of North Korea to experience a life that does not include fear, forced labour and starvation. It is for the Korean government, if there is one, to stop all the war mongering and use the revenue from all their exports for the good of the people.
As to the cartoon, Donald Trump is what he appears to be.
Alexander Peden
Saanich